Caroll Spinney, Who Was Big Bird For Almost 50 Years, Dies At 85

WOODSTOCK, CT — Caroll Spinney, the legendary puppeteer who helped create Big Bird and then played the Sesame Street character for almost 50 years, died Sunday. He was 85 years old.

Sesame Workshop released a statement saying that Spinney, who died at his home in Woodstock, CT, had suffered with dystonia for several years. The disorder causes a person's muscles to contract involuntarily.

"Caroll was an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades, and his legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the cultural firmament will be unending," Sesame Workshop said in a statement.

"His enormous talent and outsized heart were perfectly suited to playing the larger-than-life yellow bird who brought joy to generations of children and countless fans of all ages around the world, and his lovably cantankerous grouch gave us all permission to be cranky once in a while," the statement said.

Spinney was with the show from the beginning, having been brought aboard by Jim Henson.

During nearly 50 years with Sesame Street, Spinney won five Emmy Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the academy and was honored as a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. He appeared on a postage stamp (as Big Bird).

Big Bird was such an iconic figure that in 1985, NASA reached out to Sesame Workshop to see if it would be feasible to send Big Bird – and Spinney – into space aboard the shuttle. While Spinney was excited about the possibility, the plan was eventually dropped when it was determined that the Big Bird costume was too big for the shuttle.

The trip that Spinney was supposed to travel on was the ill-fated Challenger mission in Jan. 1986.

In Oct. 2018, he stopped performing in Big Bird's suit, citing the physical difficulties involved. Spinney did continue doing Big Bird's voice.

"He not only gave us Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, he gave so much of himself as well," Sesame Street founder, Joan Ganz Cooney, said. "We at Sesame Workshop mourn his passing and feel an immense gratitude for all he has given to Sesame Street and to children around the world."

Spinney, who was born in Waltham, MA, would have been 86 on the day after Christmas.

He is survived by his wife, three children, and several grandchildren.